Last Wednesday's unusual sky patterns over Byron Bay
attracted the attention of a number of people interested in the phenomenon
of 'chemtrails', which are the subject of a large volume of internet and
fringe media content.

What they saw was a lingering set of vapour trails, similar
to those commonly seen when high-altitude jet aircraft pass overhead and
known as 'contrails'.

But unlike contrails, which dissipate over a few minutes,
chemtrails linger in the sky for hours, sometimes eventually forming an
overhead haze. Chemtrails are typically found at lower altitudes than contrails,
typically between 10,000 and 15,000 feet.

Often, chemtrails form cross-cross or scattered matchstick
patterns. They are associated with anonymous white aircraft, and appear
to be emitted directly from the plane, unlike contrails which form distinctly
behind, and separate from, high-flying jet aircraft.

Within hours of the sightings, the high-volume Jeff Rense
web-site <http://www.rense.com featured a report of 'Chemtrails over
Byron Bay and Gold Coast of Australia'.

Local resident Gary Opit contacted The Echo about the
sightings, saying 'During the last couple of years in the USA various
newspapers have been reporting epidemics of respiratory infections and
auto-immune reactions immediately after residents have sighted aircraft
creating chemtrail grid patterns followed by occluded skies. Severe headaches,
shortness of breath, joint pain and dry, hacking coughs are the usual
symptoms.

'It is interesting to note that Dr Lyman Condie, chair
of the Virtual Proving Ground at the US Army's Dugway biowarfare testing
centre, states in their website that "the computer-derived Atmospheric
Dispersion Models, used to simulate the spread of bioweapons in the open
air, must be validated by field testing on live human subjects provising
a far more realistic and believable simulation".'

When attempting to confirm this quote, I contacted the
Dugway site but was rebuffed with an 'access forbidden' message.

Mr Opit continued, 'In December 1998 and January 1999
the BBC reported lingering contrails and cobweb-like fallout followed
by epidemics of respiratory infection in the London, Birmingham, Manchester,
Mersey, Norfolk and Norwich areas of England and in August 1998 at Quirindi,
NSW, dozens of residents reported a similar occurrence.'

Another local chemtrail-watcher, Shlomo Arnon, provided
The Echo with many references on the subject, including a woman from Pingelly,
WA, a small town south-east of Perth. She claims her family has suffered
dramatic ill-health since numerous chemtrail appearances over the town
in April and May last year, and that many other the townspeople suffered
similarly. Mr Arnon says he also saw chemtrails over Brunswick Heads in
early June.

The skies over Byron last Wednesday also caught the
attention of wholistic health practitioner Mark Abriel. He photographed
the chemtrail-like formation while on a surf-stop at Lennox Head.

Mr Abriel has been intrigued by a number of people coming
to him recently with ailments similar to those described by chemtrail-affected
people. Although he is the first to point out it's impossible to link
these illnesses with chemtrails, just as it's extremely difficult to unequivocally
link ailments with almost any form of chemical exposure, he finds the
similarities striking.

'These people had lingering infections, such as month-long
flu symptoms, or ulceration of the mucus lining inside the nose,' he said.
'They had lethargy, digestive problems, confusion and flu-like sore throats.'
Analyses of chemtrail fallout overseas have shown up a biochemical-warfare
soup of toxins, pathogens, fungi, moulds, and genetically-engineered organisms
such as Mycoplasma Fermentens Incognitus and Psuedomonas Flourescens.
Some of these organisms have been linked to the 'Gulf War Syndrome'. Most
are extremely antibiotic-resistant.

Mark Abriel said, 'The whole brew is said to be activated
by oxidated stress, so anything that oxidises the body and the production
of free radicals will accelerate the destructive effects.'

He is a practitioner of Ayurvedic medicine which has
at its disposal some potent anti-oxidants, such as Amla berry, and finds
that people with mystery lingering illnesses often respond well to these
treatments. 'It's an ancient form of defence against our newest modern
threats,' says Mr Abriel.' He finds that the diagnostic techniques of
Kinesiology and other alternative health traditions make treatment and
neutralisation of difficult illnesses very effective. 'But these diagnostic
techniques are not accepted as evidence by Western science,' he says.

Chemtrail-watchers find the appearance of the phenomenon
over Byron extremely disturbing, and a trawl through the internet explains
why.

There are hundreds of sites documenting chemtrails.

Chemtrail theory includes the possibility of biowarfare
tests, clandestine mass-vaccination, attempts to ameliorate global warming,
and de-population strategies. Some of the exerts, like award-winning journalist
Will Thomas, make convincing reading.

And there are plenty of sceptics who say this is nothing
but another lunatic-fringe conspiracy theory. Space constraints prevent
us from evaluating these theories here.

While it's not possible to be sure exactly what was drifting
over Byron last week, a trawl of the internet certainly has one paying
more attention than usual to the sky.